This invention refers to a furniture hinge of the box type with a single journal, provided with a device for the lateral adjustment of the door with respect to the side panel of the furniture unit.
Single-pin hinges, of the type known as "frame hinges", are widely used. In their simplest and most inexpensive form of embodiment, they consist of four main components: a fixed part or wing (designed to be integrally secured to the side panel of the furniture unit), a movable part or box (designed to be integrally secured to the door), a journal and a spring to ensure their automatic closure. These simple hinges do not allow for any reciprocal adjustment between the fixed part and the movable part. To be able to achieve adjustment of the coverage of the side panel by the door, single-pin hinges have been produced in which the wing is made in two pieces, one of which bears the means for fastening it to the side panel and the other bears the means for hinging it to the box. The two pieces are connected together by means of a screw screwed into one of them and fitting with its shank, perpendicular to the adjusting direction, into a slot provided in the other piece. By loosening the fastening screw, the two pieces can slide reciprocally, thereby permitting adjustment. The pieces are subsequently locked into the desired position by tightening the screw.
An adjustment of ths kind, however, is difficult and inaccurate, due to the fact that when the screw is loosened the two parts are free to slide along the entire adjusting stroke permitted by the length of the slot. The difficulties are amplified by the fact that the hinge is obliged to bear the weight of the door, which tends to make the two parts slide inconveniently as soon as the fastening screw is loosened. The desired amount of coverage of the side panel can thus only be found by trial and error.
Moreover, when the hinge is closed, the head of the screw protrudes inside the box in a central position, creating a hindrance which could prove critical in housing the closing mechanism of the hinge. It is obvious that, unlike the conventional hinges, in the "frame"-type hinges, in which the free space between the closing mechanism and the walls of the box is extremely limited, it is essential to have a lateral adjustment device which is of limited overall dimensions and is easily accessible.
The general scope of this invention is to obviate the aforementioned problems by providing a single-pin hinge of the box type with extremely precise and easy to use lateral adjustment, in which the adjusting device is of very limited overall dimensions.